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Tomorrow night at 8:15 on Channel 5: When Dingoes Attack. Oh yes, Snookums and I will be watching. 🙂

Scene from the Cop Shop
For my Australian visa I need some sort of document proving that I’m not a criminal, so this morning I headed out to the Hammersmith Police Station to request a copy of my record. I opened the door to discover about twelve people already waiting while a single harrassed policeman tried to work the counter. While I waited, I watched as a young guy tried to claim that his £200 mobile phone had been stolen on the bus. I was buying his story until the cop, who was filling out the crime report, asked him what color it was. The “victim” had to stop and think about it. Yeah, riiight, buddy. Make sure to work out those pesky little details before you file the insurance claim.

DeCSS (DVD decryption software) has been declared “pure speech” by a California court. Sweet! This software breaks the encryption on a DVD so you can play it on a Linux computer. The Motion Picture Association of America have a vested interest in making sure you can only play discs on approved players, and so they’ve been suing in court to prevent people from distributing it or even linking to it. Some people think that’s ridiculous (and I happen to agree). At any rate, it looks like I can wear my DeCSS T-shirt in the U.S. without fear of getting arrested.

Oh. My. God. Have you guys played around with the Internet Archive Wayback Machine yet? They’ve archived, like, ten billion web pages since 1996, including some gems from the past of yours truly. For instance, there’s my very first personal site ever: Kristine Howard’s Page O’ Wonders. (I was such a nerd freshman year.) You can also see an ancient version of my Roald Dahl site and a later incarnation that’s a little less crappy. Horrors! There’s even my first corporate web page job. I can’t believe anyone actually paid me for that.

Well, Amelie has finally made it to America, and right off the bat some idiot doesn’t get it. “Why does she lead him on a wild goose chase when she’s clearly crazy about him?” asks the Salon reviewer. That right there, to me, says everything about how profoundly this man misunderstood the film. I don’t know; maybe you boys just don’t get it. Haven’t you ever had a crush on someone so powerful that you couldn’t look them in the eyes? That you couldn’t speak when they were near? Amelie leads Nino on a “wild goose chase” because that’s the only thing she can do. She delights in strategems because they allow her to forget her loneliness. Amelie and Nino are both dreamers, and their games are the only way they can communicate with each other. If you are so cynical and worldly that you’ve forgotten these feelings, don’t bother going to the film. You’ll just ruin it for all the dreamers around you.

Woohoo! My improbable Survivor Pick ‘Em success continues. I successfully predicted that “Mother Africa” would get the boot and was rewarded a whopping 55 points. I’m now ranked 8th out of 22 in our group, and I’m at the 87th percentile overall in the game. Give it up for the girl who can’t even watch the show!

Cathleen lists the Top Ten Reasons to Live in London. Unfortunately I have no idea where “Bradley’s” is or what “The Dogs” and “Urban Farms” are. And I’ve been living here for two years! I’m the worst Londoner ever. My own personal list would probably be:

1. Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues Bar (any night that the Voodoo Vendors are playing)
2. Greasy full English breakfasts on hungover Sundays
3. The Thames at night
4. The Serpentine in Hyde Park (especially the bench on the east side that says: “To Rudolf Steiner, who loved this spot”)
5. Wagamama gyozas, yaki soba, and Kirin beer
6. The bookshops on Charing Cross Road
7. The Tiroler Hutte in Bayswater
8. Black cabs and double-decker buses
9. Indian food
10. Being able to see more movies, shows, and bands than just about anywhere else in the world

I’m realizing that my list has changed significantly since I was here a few years ago as a student. Back then it was about going out and doing something every night. Now it’s about snuggling up on the sofa with Snookums, takeout from the Indian place down the street, and the Buffy DVD. 🙂

Brigita admits to some apprehension regarding the musical Buffy and goes on to reveal her issues with the entire “musical” form. I just left her a massive comment trying to defend the genre. I know there are others with strong feelings on the subject too. What do you think? Do you have problems with people “bursting into song”?

Good grief. Living in this tiny country has completely destroyed my sense of distance and proportion. I was just talking to the Snook about that Harry Potter thing I mentioned below and I asked him how far this place was from Sydney. I mean, look at the map. The amusement park is supposed to be 45 minutes south of Brisbane. That’s only, like, half a state away. But guess how long it takes to get there? Fourteen hours. Seriously. I mean, you can drive the entire length of Britain in that amount of time! I’m just having trouble grasping the fact that Australia is pretty much the same size as the U.S. (if you lop off Alaska, which is over half a million square miles). The problem is that it’s divided into so few states. Looking at a map with those lines shrinks it in my head. It’s so weird, you know?

Further proof that Australia rocks: The Harry Potter Movie Magic Experience. If I can just talk to the Snook into taking me, I’ll have pictures for you all. 🙂